Where Are They Now? Restaurants from Ke‘eaumoku Street

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in October 2021, nine months after a block of restaurants, bars and other businesses along Ke‘eaumoku Street closed to make way for new condos. It has been updated periodically as eateries find new homes—even three years later, the case with Chogajip and En Hakkore, which top today’s list.

Chogajip

Photo: Mari Taketa

The latest eatery to resurface from Ke‘eaumoku’s super block, Chogajip opened July 20 across from the Hawai‘i Convention Center next to Sura Hawai‘i Korean barbecue. It’s a slightly spruced-up version of its old cinder-block haunts, but just slightly—chogajip means straw-roofed house, and the menu reflects simpler, home-style dishes. House specialties like this lip-smacky, umami-rich kalbi tang or short rib soup are marked by a chogajip emoji. Breakfast features sizzling soups, lunch specials in the $25 range combine house barley rice with an entrée and a chige soup, pork shoulder bossam sets are popular at dinner, and the restaurant is open daily from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. Parking is free in the small lot immediately ‘Ewa of the restaurant. The new owners are from the same family as the old Chogajip and bring a fresh, welcoming vibe.

1718 Kapi‘olani Blvd., (808) 762-3100

En Hakkore Café

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Tell your shave ice fanatic friends: En Hakkore and its giant, loaded bing su are back, this time in a different supermarket around the corner from their old haunts. The café menu of toasts, coffees and sweet drinks is pretty much the same, with a notable new addition. Read more in the article below.

1670 Makaloa St.

SEE ALSO: Honolulu’s Most Over-the-Top, Caffeinated Korean Shaved Ice Is Back

Asahi Grill

Asahi Grill Ke‘eaumoku, affiliated with Kapi‘olani Coffee Shop in Waimalu and not with Asahi Grill on Ward Avenue (though all three are known for their oxtail soup) reopened in May 2021 in a standalone spot at the entrance of Kaimukī. The menu still spans eclectic local favorites from kalbi fried rice to hamburger steak, curry with tempura, chicken papaya soup, and that famous oxtail soup.

3008 Wai‘alae Ave., (808) 744-9067, asahigrill.com, @asahi_grill_keeaumoku

Banchan House

Formerly known as Ke‘eaumoku Produce, the renamed Banchan House opened in December 2022 in nearby Like Like Plaza. The mom-and-pop shop still sells the house-made kim chee, mandoo and assorted banchan made by owners Seong Hee and Chul Kyu Kim and their relatives, plus Wai‘anae eggs and Kamiya Papayas.

745 Ke‘eaumoku St., (808) 955-9788, @_banchanhouse_

Ireh Restaurant at Azure

Photo: Mari Taketa

The cozy, homey eatery known for its Korean comfort food debuted its new location on the ground floor of the Azure Ala Moana condo building in fall 2021. You can still find spicy tteokbokki, healthy noodles and umpteen varieties of jook (think abalone, mushroom, beef and mushroom, black sesame and the popular, deeply green seafood chlorella) on the expanded menu, which includes new chicken dishes and even more jook. Parking is free on the third floor of Azure—enter from Ke‘eaumoku Street, no validation required.

629 Ke‘eaumoku St., @ireh_at_azure

SEE ALSO: When Rice = Comfort Food: 6 Steaming Bowls from Around the World

New Hyung Je (formerly Don e Don)

Photo: Thomas Obungen

After a months-long closure, Koreamoku’s Don e Don reopened as a new iteration in the space formerly known as Hyung Jae or, informally, Brothers. New Hyung Je is the result, with tabletop grills and a menu of not just Korean barbecue standards, but Don e Don specialties at lunch as well. These include pork neck bone soup with perilla leaves and potatoes, and the famous grilled pork ribs, seasoned with sea salt or sweetened kochujang.

636 Sheridan St., (808) 591-1827

SEE ALSO: Don e Don: A Korean Restaurant with Unrivaled Pork Dishes

Sorabol

Photo: Martha Cheng

In a deft move, the neighborhood’s oldest and most iconic Korean restaurant reopened across the street and down the block from its original location just seven weeks after closing. Sorabol’s new home inside the Pagoda Hotel means the Pagoda Floating Restaurant has moved into the property’s ballrooms, where it serves breakfast; and that, unusually for a Korean restaurant, you’re eating kalbi, yukgaejang soup and steamed butterfish surrounded by windows—and the hotel’s colorful resident koi.

1525 Rycroft St., (808) 947-3113, @sorabolhawaii

SEE ALSO: Here’s the New Sorabol, Just Opened Inside Pagoda Hotel

Steve’s Chicken (formerly Chicken Factory/Steve’s Chicks)

At Steve’s Chicken in Pearlridge’s Mauka food court, the new name and home of Koreamoku’s former Chicken Factory and then Steve’s Chicks in Waipahu, Korean fried chicken and chicken sandwiches rule the menu, along with Korean snacks and drinks including banana milk and Milkis.

98-1005 Moanalua Road, (808) 216-7042 (manager’s phone), @steveschicken_hawaii

Tonkatsu Sangi (formerly Menchanko Tei)

Photo: Mahina Chong

After a period as a mobile food vendor, Menchanko Tei reopened in September 2023 in Downtown’s Pioneer Plaza as Tonkatsu Sangi with a scaled-down menu of its top hits: tonkatsu, nanban chicken and ramen made with recipes from Goma Ichi.

900 Fort Street Mall Ste. 170, tonkatsusangi.com, @tonkatsu_sangi

SEE ALSO: Find Menchanko-Tei Favorites and Goma Ichi’s Ramen at Tonkatsu Sangi

Yogurstory

The neighborhood’s trendy breakfast and brunch destination, an OG spot for vibrant purple ube pancakes, set up shop in the home of the old Like Like Drive Inn, just yards from its original location, mere weeks after closing. The new space is considerably larger but still fills up, with lines on weekends.

745 Ke‘eaumoku St., (808) 942-0505, @yogurstory

SEE ALSO:

Where Are They Now? Eateries from ‘Ohana Hale Marketplace, Part 1
Where Are They Now? ‘Ohana Hale Marketplace Eateries, Part 2
Friday Is Moanalua 99’s Last Day. Here’s Where the Eateries Are Going